John Clay

James White and Montee Ball were supposed to be understudies this season for Wisconsin, young running backs waiting their turn behind veteran John Clay . But as the fifth-ranked Badgers prepare to play third-ranked Texas Christian in the Rose Bowl, Ball and White are on equal footing with their older teammate, who has recovered from a late-season knee injury and will play on New Year's Day. That will be a challenge for TCU's...

James White and Montee Ball were supposed to be understudies this season for Wisconsin, young running backs waiting their turn behind veteran John Clay . But as the fifth-ranked Badgers prepare to play third-ranked Texas Christian in the Rose Bowl, Ball and White are on equal footing with their older teammate, who has recovered from a late-season knee injury and will play on New Year's Day. That will be a challenge for TCU's...

After the Chargers hired Steve Ortmayer from the Raiders, Ortmayer traded All-Pro left tackle Jim Lachey and a fourth-round draft choice to the Raiders for a 400-pound lineman with back trouble (John Clay) and an ensign in the Navy (Napoleon McCallum). After the Chargers hired Dan Henning and Bobby Beathard from the Washington Redskins, Beathard traded the Chargers' 1992 first-round draft pick (potentially the first pick of the entire draft) to the Redskins for a low 1991 second-round draft pick (Eric Moten)

After the Chargers hired Steve Ortmayer from the Raiders, Ortmayer traded All-Pro left tackle Jim Lachey and a fourth-round draft choice to the Raiders for a 400-pound lineman with back trouble (John Clay) and an ensign in the Navy (Napoleon McCallum). After the Chargers hired Dan Henning and Bobby Beathard from the Washington Redskins, Beathard traded the Chargers' 1992 first-round draft pick (potentially the first pick of the entire draft) to the Redskins for a low 1991 second-round draft pick (Eric Moten)

John Clay, the Raiders' No. 1 pick, signed a contract Wednesday, ending his six-day holdout. No figures were given. Clay was reportedly set to sign a $1.45-million, four-year deal two weeks ago. Sources say that his agents, Norby Walters and Lloyd Bloom, then noted the $1.7 million given to Detroit's No. 1, Reggie Rogers, chosen seventh, eight picks ahead of Clay, and asked for more. A source says Clay may have gotten another $50,000 for an even $1.5 million. "It was hard," Clay said.

Tackle John Clay, traded along with two draft picks from the Raiders to the San Diego Chargers Saturday for Pro Bowl tackle Jim Lachey, failed to pass his physical Sunday morning because of a lower back strain, raising questions in Charger camp that maybe the Raiders had pulled a fast one. Before Saturday, the Raiders and Chargers, long time AFC Western Division rivals both on and off the field, hadn't worked a trade since 1976.

The injury that Charger left tackle John Clay sustained Tuesday is worse than originally thought. Coach Al Saunders announced Wednesday that the injury is now being called a "severe pull of the hip flexor" muscle and that Clay is expected to be out at least a week. Clay is the player the Chargers received July 30 from the Raiders in the controversial Jim Lachey trade. Clay reported to the Chargers from the Raiders with a bad back.

In the face of mounting criticism Monday, Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers' director of football operations, stood by the trade announced Saturday that sent Pro Bowl tackle Jim Lachey to the Raiders in exchange for tackle John Clay and two "high" draft picks. "The story of a deal is told in the future," Ortmayer said. "It isn't told in the present." But even Denver Coach Dan Reeves got into the act, saying he didn't think it was "very good deal" for the Chargers.

And the newest prospect for the Raiders' No. 1 choice in Tuesday's draft is . . . Missouri tackle John Clay. Originally considered the top lineman in the draft and one of the top five picks overall, the 6-foot 4-inch, 290-pound Clay lost ground after the regular season ended. He ballooned to 315 for the Blue-Grey game and was marked down on attitude by a lot of scouts. The Raiders, however, seem delighted at the prospect of his being available by their selection, No. 15. How interested are they?

Call it bad luck or a bad trade. Or both. The Chargers waived offensive tackle John Clay Saturday because of a neck injury that wouldn't heal. He couldn't pass the latest physical exam administered Friday by team physicians. And he might never play again. Clay has a herniated disc of the cervical spine. The injury occurred last season in the third game. Along with localized neck pain, he experienced tingling and numbness in both his hands and feet.

The sad, confusing and continuing saga of tackle John Clay and the Chargers took another unexpected turn Sunday on the first day of training camp when Coach Dan Henning said he didn't know where Clay was. Worse for Clay, Henning said Clay was supposed to be at the team's UC San Diego training site even though most veterans won't report until later this week. Even worse was the look on Henning's face when asked if he was disappointed over Clay's absence. "Yes," Henning said.

At first the John Clay trade was shocking. Then it was controversial. Then it was disappointing. Now it is just plain sad. Listing his latest injury as a "cervical strain," the Chargers placed Clay on the injured reserve list Friday. That means he can't play for at least four weeks. Clay was supposed to start at left tackle Sunday against the Chiefs in Kansas City. Instead, the team will have to go with Ken Dallafior, a player they cut this summer.

Ready or not, for better or worse, John Clay is now the Chargers' starting offensive left tackle. The assignment won't necessarily be permanent, but Clay earned a shot at it by default Wednesday when Gary Kowalski was placed on injured reserve because of a neck problem. Kowalski's injury was described as a cervical strain. Coach Al Saunders said doctors were evaluating it to determine whether a disk is involved. If so, Kowalski might be out longer than the minimum of 4 weeks on injured reserve.

The names of two Chargers turned up on a list of 43 athletes that was released Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago, prompting Steve Ortmayer to characterize the two players as "victims." Ortmayer, the Chargers' director of football operations, said it was his understanding that offensive lineman John Clay and inside linebacker Chuck Faucette "didn't know what they were getting into" when they accepted illegal payments while still in college.

Comings and goings . . . Gone . . . Jim Lachey Never think you've seen everything in sports. There is always a new twist, another trip down Bizarre Boulevard. Here is a seemingly intelligent young man, a wholesome type in whose name--and with whose funding--a football scholarship is presented each year at Ohio State University. It seems, however, that he did not major in geography, because he determined that San Diego was much too far from home and insisted that he be dispatched elsewhere.

Call it bad luck or a bad trade. Or both. The Chargers waived offensive tackle John Clay Saturday because of a neck injury that wouldn't heal. He couldn't pass the latest physical exam administered Friday by team physicians. And he might never play again. Clay has a herniated disc of the cervical spine. The injury occurred last season in the third game. Along with localized neck pain, he experienced tingling and numbness in both his hands and feet.

The injury that Charger left tackle John Clay sustained Tuesday is worse than originally thought. Coach Al Saunders announced Wednesday that the injury is now being called a "severe pull of the hip flexor" muscle and that Clay is expected to be out at least a week. Clay is the player the Chargers received July 30 from the Raiders in the controversial Jim Lachey trade. Clay reported to the Chargers from the Raiders with a bad back.

The Jim Lachey-John Clay trade between the Chargers and Raiders has suddenly this summer become professional football's hottest new soap opera. So hot that general managers and personnel bosses around the league are focusing on the deal with a mixture of sympathy, scorn, anger and morbid curiosity. Bill Polian, the general manager of the Buffalo Bills, said Tuesday that there may be more to the deal than meets the eye.